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“It’s very difficult for me to say that, but my road to Sochi ends here,” Evan Lysacek told Matt Lauer this morning on the Today show.

After winning the gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010, the American figure skater took some time away from the sport. When he began to train again in 2012, he told Today that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Dick Button and win back-to-back Olympic gold medals.

Unfortunately for Lysacek, that is no longer a dream he can expect to come true. Since making his return to figure skating, Lysacek has battled various injuries. The most recent of which, a torn labrum in his left hip, kept him from competing at the end of September. Prior to that, he was also dealing with a groin injury and sports hernia.

“A lot of what played into that decision (to not attempt to qualify) was that my doctor warned me that if I continued to train with 100 percent certainty the (labrum) injury would get worse, the pain would get worse every single day and I could be doing permanent and severe damage,” Lysacek said.

“This has been my whole life so…it’s a difficult decision for sure. Right now my focus has to shift from training and preparing for Sochi to getting healthy and trying to heal this injury once and for all. The last several weeks have been so painful for me that I don’t want those to be my last moments on the ice after such a great career. I love to represent my country, and I’m determined to be healthy and skate again and really be the one that decides when it’s over.”

Even after suffering a torn labrum in August, Lysacek still planned on competing in the Sochi Winter Olympics next year. He work with doctors on aggressive treatment and physical therapy, but was unable to do so. Lysacek’s last chance to qualify for Sochi is at the Ukranian Open on Dec. 18, but described the pain during training as “unmanageable.”

“The jumps and the physicality of the sport are incredible, and I think people don’t know that,” Lysacek said. “They think it looks like ballet, but really it is among the most difficult and physical sports in the world. The torque is immense. It’s sometimes up to 100 times your body weight in torque. The training and the discipline that it takes are incredible, and people expect that to be an Olympic gold medalist you have to work hard and be dedicated, but the level of sacrifice and discipline to live that lifestyle are immense.

“I can’t even put it into words, but it is what I love, and I’ve had some of the best moments of my life representing the United States. It’s what gives me such pride.”

Watch the highlights from Lysacek’s gold-medal winning performances at the Vancouver Games in 2010: